{
 "no": 78,
 "id": "case-78",
 "sk": 20110217,
 "year": 2011,
 "date": "Deal 2005; rescinded Feb 2011",
 "cat": "Public money",
 "sev": "amber",
 "title": "Antrix-Devas. Public spectrum leased quietly, then torn up expensively",
 "stamp": "Cancelled. India lost the arbitration.",
 "human": {
  "v": "S-band spectrum, a scarce public asset, committed to a private firm without competitive process",
  "est": false
 },
 "cost": {
  "v": "Contract rescinded in 2011; India has since faced arbitration awards running to <b>over a billion dollars</b> plus interest",
  "est": true
 },
 "what": "In 2005 Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, agreed to lease 70 MHz of S-band satellite spectrum to Devas Multimedia. A CAG review found the agreement had been made without competitive process and promoted a private interest at public cost. The government rescinded the contract in February 2011.",
 "dodge": "Cancelling the contract did not settle anything: international arbitral tribunals repeatedly found against India, leaving the taxpayer facing awards larger than anything the original deal was worth. No official was held responsible either for signing an agreement that should not have been signed, or for cancelling it in a way that cost more than it saved.",
 "ministers": [
  {
   "n": "Department of Space",
   "r": "Parent of Antrix; signed and then rescinded the agreement"
  },
  {
   "n": "Prime Minister's Office",
   "r": "Department of Space reports to the PMO"
  }
 ],
 "pos": "The government said it cancelled the contract on grounds of national security and strategic need for the spectrum, and has argued in every forum that the deal was fraudulent from the start.",
 "alleg": "Fraud in the original deal is <em>the government's own contention, accepted by Indian courts and rejected by several arbitral tribunals</em>. The two findings have not been reconciled.",
 "alt": "Competitive allocation of the spectrum in 2005, and a cancellation route chosen with the arbitration exposure calculated first.",
 "sources": [
  {
   "label": "The Quint: the scuttled Antrix-Devas deal explained",
   "url": "https://www.thequint.com/explainers/antrix-devas-deal-scam-or-government-cold-feet",
   "tier": 2
  },
  {
   "label": "ORF: lessons from the Devas v Antrix disputes",
   "url": "https://www.orfonline.org/research/devas-v-antrix-lessons-for-india-in-navigating-bilateral-investment-treaty-disputes",
   "tier": 2
  }
 ],
 "caseUrl": "https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-78/"
}